State Policy Network

State Policy Network is a Koch Network-affiliated “free-market” organization uniting 64 state-based member think tanks. Although SPN claims the think tanks under its umbrella operate independently, evidence suggests they regularly coordinate priorities and strategy, launching multi-state campaigns to further conservative policies on issues such as labor, climate change, voting, and education, among others. SPN also boasts over 100 “associate members” that include right-wing groups like Accuracy in Media, ALEC, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, DonorsTrust, and FreedomWorks. While SPN itself brought in around $8 million in 2012, its members’ collective reach is much longer: the Center for Media and Democracy reports combined 2011 fundraising of $83 million, and The New Yorker writes that SPN poured $79 million into state-level conservative policies in that year.

A complete list of Conservative Transparency pages about State Policy Network Members, Associate Members, and “Other Organizations” is available here.

Notable Facts:

State Policy Network emerged from a more loosely organized collection of state think tanks called the Madison Group.

State Policy Network’s board members include Whitney Ball, the president and CEO of DonorsTrust, and Adam Meyerson, the chairman of Donors Capital Fund and president of Philanthropy Roundtable; all three of those organizations have received significant Koch funding.

Contributions from private foundations and other nonprofit entities are based on a review of publicly available Forms 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service. For more information about our methodology, visit our about page.